


Itazura No Neko

by CornOnTheCorn



Series: General Poltergeist PSAs [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ghosts, Poltergeists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25865713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CornOnTheCorn/pseuds/CornOnTheCorn
Summary: The following is an official summary of basic knowledge on Itazura No Neko (translatable to "Mischief Cat" in English). Although Itazura No Neko is categorized as “Completely Harmless”, it has been one of the most requested ghosts in recent times to have a PSA published on. Due to this heightened public interest, we at Geist Inc have obliged and provided the following information on the popular Japanese trickster cat.
Series: General Poltergeist PSAs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855690





	Itazura No Neko

**Appearance:**

Itazura No Neko, undisturbed, takes the form of the Snowshoe breed of cat. Early on in its discovery, it was believed to have no connections to any particular breed. This was largely in part due to its completely misty white eyes, ambiguous, translucent control form, and tendency to move around too quickly for prolonged observation. In addition to the physical qualities already discussed, Itazura No Neko has a small bell hanging from a thin black collar around its neck. 

**Approach:**

Itazura No Neko has been observed to make its first appearance in the visited’s house at any point in the day. Although, when graphed, it appears to have a slight preference for the hours between 4pm-6pm. Itazura No Neko has been confirmed as having two separate tells. Tell One: The homeowner/resident will hear a soft scratching at their front door. When investigated, there will initially be no visible source of the sound. After a moment, Itazura No Neko will show itself and enter the home whether the door is open or not. Tell Two: Itazura No Neko will enter a house it has chosen regardless of if someone is home. The tell for homeowners/residents who come home to find it has been inhabited by Itazura No Neko is as follows. They will hear three chimes of the bell around Itazura No Neko’s neck (As with the scratching, there will be no visible source of the sound). Soon after, the impact of something hitting the floor will be heard from a separate room of the residency. This could be anything from silverware to office supplies to even food that was left out to thaw in some occasions. The only limit seems to be that the item has to be small enough for a living cat to be feasibly expected to be able to push it. 

**Haunting Process:**

Itazura No Neko has no confirmed kills or even domestic injuries. The only harm inflicted upon an individual during an Itazura haunting process has been decidedly self-inflicted. This is typically in the form of the resident attempting to chase after Itazura No Neko and being uncoordinated. At its worst, Itazura No Neko’s haunting process has been most commonly described by the haunted as “Highly Inconvenient”(1). Out of the many reported haunting methods of Itazura, these appear to be the most common: Itazura No Neko will knock things off of shelves and counters, but always in a room the resident isn’t currently in. This will sometimes result in a loop of the resident checking the room an impact sound just came from, only to hear a second impact from the room they were just in. Then the process repeats. Besides being knocked over, everyday items (and sometimes foods from cabinets) have been reported to go missing temporarily or even forever during an Itazura haunt. Itazura No Neko will sometimes leave glowing scratches or bite marks on furniture that cannot be remedied through standard sewing or even complete reupholstery. The resident typically has to wait until they fade in the coming days. One of the stranger effects of an Itazura No Neko haunt is the way that they somehow cause allergic reactions in residents who normally have a cat allergy. Due to Itazura No Neko’s incorporealness, there is no feasible reason as to why this would happen. Some Spectreologists believe that Itazura No Neko has mild reality bending abilities that allow it to will allergic reactions out of certain individuals, though this isn’t widely accepted. The only support of Itazura’s potential influence on the physical realm comes from scattered Wi-Fi outages during the time Itazura is linked to someone’s home. These are not highly common. 

**How To Cope:**

While there doesn’t seem to be a 100% successful process of keeping Itazura No Neko at bay, there are some methods that have been proven to lessen their mischievousness. 

1: The most passive method is to simply ignore Itazura No Neko during its time in the residency. This can be anywhere between 13 to 75 hours. This involves not only not acknowledging its presence, but also showing a complete lack of emotional investment in its antics(e.g, if you hear something drop in another room, remain where you are as if you didn’t. When you go into the room later, fix the problem with no visible sign of distress). This sometimes even shortens Itazura’s duration in a residency. 

2: If you show respect towards Itazura No Neko, sometimes it rewards you greatly. Completely opposite to the last method, this one involves acknowledging Itazura very directly. When you hear the scratching at the door with no visible sign of a source, you open the door and proclaim “Welcome, Itazura No Neko! I am fortunate you’ve chosen me!”. You can use the same greeting if you come home to hear the chiming of the bells. Keeping up this façade is heavily encouraged. Commending Itazura’s pranks as humorous and saying good morning/good evening are good examples(Saying these things in Itazura’s native Japanese seems to be most effective, but not completely necessary). Residents who take this approach have regularly reported a moderate lack of harshness in Itazura’s pranks when compared to their peers. They are also left a “gift” once Itazura departs. These have varied in usefulness from a stack of marble coasters to $3000 worth of golden coins in a burlap sack. 

3: This last method is more preventative in nature and has not been studied thoroughly. Various communities throughout Japan have adopted the practice of leaving small offerings for Itazura No Neko outside of their homes. The offering is always something edible left in a small container resembling a cat’s head. Two coins are also placed above each of the container’s “ears”. While there are a few residents who have still gone through a visit from Itazura No Neko regardless of this practice, their visits have been logged as the shortest on file. It’s heavily debated whether this is mere coincidence or proof of the method’s effectiveness. 

**Additional Information:**

Itazura No Neko’s earliest known appearance is on file as taking place on February 3rd, 1980 in the Gifu prefecture of the Chubu region. 

Itazura No Neko is majorly seen in Japan. The only other rare confirmed sightings have come from southern South Korea, including Jeju island. This has led some ghost theorists and Spectreologists alike to entertain the thought that Itazura No Neko travels by human means such as boat or plane, although they are prone to getting homesick. 

The process of confirming Itazura No Neko’s breed was a passion project formulated by a group of Felinologists. The series of studies took place between 1989-1991. Before officially agreeing on Snowshoe, other potential breeds included Siamese, Birman, and Ragdoll. Dr. Hisao Nakamura, the head of the project, felt this about the study: “It is just interesting you know? You don’t see too many cat ghosts like this. Ones that seem to keep the playful nature of cats in life. We just want to learn a lot about Itazura. The most logical place to start is probably the breed. Though it’s proven difficult so far! Ghosts are not as easily observable! [laughter]”. 

One of the most infamous cases of Itazura’s pranks having a truly negative effect on the haunted’s life occurred on May 12th, 2007 to Chikaru Hojo. Chikaru went into her office area one day to gather some bills that needed to be paid. The bills were missing from their usual place when she searched. Unable to find them, Chikaru decided to pay them online. Regardless of this, Chikaru’s apartment was devoid of electricity and running water a week later. Expensive items in her fridge went bad, her laundry she needed for work the next day was unwashed, and her boyfriend (visiting at the time) broke up with her because of her apparent poor decision making skills and fiscal irresponsibility. After heavy investigation, Chikaru discovered that her online bill pay didn’t clear, as Itazura No Neko had cut off her internet connection before it was able to. Chikaru has been in many interviews due to the popularity of her story. She has stated that losing her boyfriend was one positive in hindsight. “I have to thank Itazura, honestly. That guy was an asshole,” she has been quoted as saying. 

Between January 27th to June 22nd of 2012, an anime featuring Itazura No Neko aired in Japan. It was well received domestically and even acquired a cult following overseas in various countries. The anime featured the titular Itazura No Neko getting into various hijinks across Japan with a band of other spirits. A popular running gag in the show was Itazura inadvertently helping people through its pranks and being very displeased about it. 

**Author's Note:**

> (1)This information was acquired through a 2019 Geist Inc post-haunt poll. This fact in particular was taken from Itazura No Neko’s section of the poll. It covered individuals who have been haunted by Itazura No Neko within the last 7 years. N=1,736.


End file.
